The Perseid meteor shower is peaking on 12-13 August
Persend meteors may been seen between 17 July and 24 August this year; there could be up to 150 seen per hour.
The meteors are debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet hitting the Earth's atmosphere at between 7 and 45 miles per second; smaller meteors vaporise and leave behind a bright trail but larger ones can explode as fireballs. There could be up to 150 meteors seen per hour.
The shower is named 'Perseids' as the meteors seem to originate from the constellation of Perseus - the 'radiant'.
This year it is unfortunate that the peak coincides with a large full moon - as the meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, it is best to look away from the moon and away from other bright lights; from midnight to 0530 is advised as the best time.
Email to a Friend